Means for handling rolls of paper



Patented Get. 7, 1924,

UNirEo sr ra :BERGER STOCKFLETH, OF BERRIEN SPRINGS, AND FREDERICK W. BURGER, OF NILES, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS T CLARK TRUCTRACTOR COMPANY, OF BUCHANAN, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OTE MICHIGAN.

MEANS non HANDLING nouns or PAPERk Application filed April 21, 1924. Serial No. 708,055.

T o all whom t may concern Be it known that we, BERGER STOCKELETH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Berrien Springs, in .the county of '5 Berrien and State of Michigan, and FRED- ERICK W. BURGER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Niles, in the county of Berrien and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and 'useful Improvements in'Means Ifor Handling Rolls of Iaper, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the kaccompanying drawings.

The rolls of paper from which newspapers are printed are very heavy and they have to be handled with considerable care to avoid liability of damage to the layers of paper, and particularly is that the case in connec tion with their insertion in and removal from the freight cars into which they are loaded for vtransportation from their place In such, cars they are of manufacture. usuallyplaced on end close'together, and it is desirable,v and common practice, to lift them bodily from the car without turning them over on their sides because such turning them over into position so that they might be rolled is apt to damage the outer layers at their edge, and, also,` the outer layers might be damaged by contact with irregularities inthe surfacesfthat ythey arerolled over, ac..l In order to lift them straight up andmove them fin that condi-A tion out of a car it has been common to employ an expanding' clutch device that is inserted into the hollow core that each such roll is wound upon and then, by means of a suitable tool, causing an expansion of the device into such tight frictional engagement 40 with the core that the frictionally-engaging device will not slip with relation to the core when an upward pull is given on a rod or other connection that extends from such clutching orolamping device out beyond the upper end of the roll. By reason of that tight frictional engagement of such a device with a roll core it has been possibleoto effectV the desired vertical lifting of these heavy rolls, but such means are at times objection- 5 thus cause more or less of the inner layers of the roll of paper to move with the core, j' theV effect' of such movement being that 'the able owing to the tendency of the core it-' selfto move longitudinally of the roll andv central portion of the upper end-of a roll rolls according tothe character of the paperand other causes. ASuch bulging is highly objectionable in that it'not only renders the paper more readily subject to damage while in its rolled form and also renders it difiicult to stack such rolls when placed one upon another end to end, but the web as it 1s drawn rapidly into a printing press cannot move into the press with that precision that is essential to the production ofthe large number of newspapers that are to be printed from a roll of paper.

It is the leading object of our invention to provide means for attachment to a heavy roll'of paper that will enable the roll to be lifted vertically from a standing-on-end position without causing any such bulging at the upperl end of the roll or without imposing any ,lateral pressure upon the core that would tend to injure the core itself or cause any disturbance of the smooth surfaces of the inner layers of the papers due to the pressure of any device in the core that was forced into strong frictional `engagement with the core. Another object Vof the invention is to so construct the means by which' aV roll is adapted to be engaged for lifting purposes that onevmember of such means will at all times lie opposite and in contact with a substantial portion of that end of the roll that will be they lower end while the roll is being transported or in storage and will serve as a base for the roll to rest upon, and, in case the floor ofthecar or storage place should be damp or badly soiled, will protect'theV paper byv hold'uig the roll Vofil of such floor. A still further object of the invention is to construct the 'roll-en-l gaging means so that that member thereofl whereby such rods may constitute a part ofl the equipment furnished with each roll, and yet such rods willnot, by reason of projecting 4beyond one end of 'each roll, respec-VV tively, offer any obstruction to the piling of one roll upon another end to end, asis the desirable practice in press-rooms and other places. rlfhese objects we accomplish bv the construction shown in the drawing and hereinafter specifically described. That which we believe to be new will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawingz- Fig. l is a perspective view of a device embodying the invention;

rig. 2 is a vertical central section through a roll of paper, and showing in eleva-tion the device of. Fig. l applied thereto, there being also shown in dotted lines a. portion of another roll that is provided with like device, which latter roll is supported on the upper end of the other roll; and

Fig. 3 is a detail, ybeing an enlarged verticalsection through the device, some of the parts thereof being partly broken away.

Referring to the drawing,5 indicates a flat plate, preferably annular in shape to conform to the shape ofy the end of a roll of paper with which it is to be used and against one end of which roll said plate is adapted to lie. la roll of paper, such as is used Vfor the printing of newspapers, is shown in dotted lines and is indicated by A. shown the plate 5 lies closely against that end of the roll that will normally be the lower end of the roll during its transportation or storage, and, as will be evident, such plate will by holding the roll out of actual contact with a floor aid in preventing` damage to the roll in the event that such floor should beV damp on soiled. The plate may be of any desired diameter but preferably will be of materially less diameterv than the roll, as when of such less diameter it is found to extend over a. suf( cient portion of the end surface of the roll to pro-vide not only a stable base for the roll to rest upon when on the floor of a carl or other pla-ce, but what is of greater importance furnishes a surface of suliicient area for the roll to rest upon with out disturbing the even windings of the several layers composing the roll when the plate and the roll are moved upward by a pull applied at the axis ofk the plate` as hereinafter described.

l41 ormed centrally through the plate 5 is a hole G, and surrounding such hole and projecting from that surface of the plate that lies against the roll is a. comparatively short hollow cylindrical glug` 7 that is adapted to project into the adjacent end of the hollow core` c of the roll. Such cylindrical plug member to be firmly united to the plate in any suitable manner, or, indeed, the two parte may be formed integral with each other. The member 7 is preferably to be made of a size to snugly fit within the core so as to be normally held therein by frictional contact with the wall of the core for it is contemplated as the most desirable way o fmalting use of the invention that the parts 5 and 7 shall remain attached to a roll from the time such roll is shipped out of the paper mill to the time when the roll is to be placed on the usual roll-holder preparatory to feeding the web of paper to a grintingpress. As herein shown, 4the end of the plugilile member is provided with a lixed head 8 through the central portion of which is formed a tapped opening 9. A rod l() that has a `screw-threaded end portion adapted to engage the head 8 by being screwed into the opening 9 is provided as a means to be engaged by any suitable lifting mechanism. As shown, this rod projects Ibeyond the upper end of the roll, and in such projecting end ortion is formed an eye ll which may be of elongated shape as in the drawing, or otherwise, to adapt it to be engaged by a hook or finger or other suitable element of the lifting' mechanism that may be employed for the lifting operation.

lihile the suspending rod l0 is preferably detachably connected with a plug memf ber 7 and therefore one such rod might be successively used in connection with a num her of paper rolls that were to be lifted and moved out of acalr, or otherwise, yet assuch use of a single rod in connection with differentI rolls would in many instancesI be very inconvenient we prefer and recommend that each roll as shipped be provided with its own rod' properly connected to the plug T in the core of that roll, because thereby a. car load of rolls can be handled in the least time and with the least amo-unt of labor. rlhe projection of the rod in each roll at all times beyond that end of the roll that is uppermost is not a -bar to the placing of rolls upon each other end to end, as is commonly done while the rolls are in storage or are held in a press-room, because of the fact that the projecting portion of the rod that is carried by a lower roll will extend into and be housed by the hollow plug in the lower end of the core of the next higher roll. lhile, therefore, so far as the lifting function is concerned the plugs may vary as to their length. and the extent to which the rods project may also vary, yet in view olI the desirability of stacking the rolls onO upon another end to endnit is importan'v that the length of plug and theeXtent of projection of the rod he such as to permit of the desired end to end stacking of the rolls.

llhile any suitable elevating mechanism for effecting lifting of the rolls may be employed it is contemplated that such lifting be performed by mechanism carried by or connected with a. small tractor such as are commonly employed in and about warehouses, railroad stations and other places. `With such an elevating mechanism having avsuitable projectimg;` element adapted to.y extend over a roll and engage the eye 11 of the rod 10 that projects from such roll it will be evident that when power is ap-plied to vertically move such extending element the roll will be lifted off of the floor of the car or other place on whi-ch it had rested and can, while so suspended, be transported lto and deposited at the place desired.

By our invention we provide cheap, simple and effective means for enabling a heavy roll of paper to be handled and at all times maintained in an upright position, and which, by reason of the manner of its association with a roll, will neither cause injury to the core of the roll or to any of the layers of paper that compose the roll, and that also will not cause a distortion of the roll by bulging it out at one end. The parts of the device are capa-ble of being used many times by being returned from time to time to the makers of the rolls, as is common practice in connection with the roll cores.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Means for handling and lifting a roll of paper comprising in combination a member adapted to extend across and lie in contact with one end of the roll, a plug projecting centrally from one face of said member and adapted to project into the hollow central part of the roll, and suspending means connected at one end with said pug and Vadapted for attachment at its other end to a lifting device.

2. The combination with a roll having a hollow center, of means for handling and lifting said roll comprising a plate in contact with one end of the roll, a plug connected with said plate and projecting into the hollow center of the roll, and suspending means in said center of the roll connected with said plug.

3. The combination with a roll having a hollow center, of means for handling and lifting said roll comprising a plate in contact with one end of the roll, a plug connected with said plate and projecting into the hollow center of the roll, and a suspending rod in said center of'I the roll connected at one end with said plu and projecting at its other end beyond t ie other end of the roll. Y,

4. The combination with auroll having a hollow center, of means for handling and lifting said roll comprising a plate in contact with one end of the roll, a plug connected with said plate and projecting into the hollow center of the roll, and a suspending rod in said center of the roll adjustably connected at one end with said plug and projecting at its other end beyond the other end of the roll.

5. The combination withl a roll having a hollow center, of means for handling and lifting said roll comprising a plate in contact with one end of the roll, said plate hav-l ing a central opening therethrough, a hollow plug connected with said plate around said opening and projecting into the hollow center of the roll, a suspending rod in said center of the roll, and means for connecting the inner end portion of said rod with the inner end portion of said plug.

6. The combination with a roll having a hollow center, of means for handling and lifting said roll comprising a plate in contact with one end of the roll, said plate having a central opening therethrough, ya hollow plug connected with said plate around said opening and projecting into the hollow center of the roll, a suspending rod in said center of the roll, and means for detachably and adj ustably connectingthe inner end portion of said rod with the inner end portion of said plug. y

7. The combination with a roll having a hollow center, of means for handling and lifting said roll comprising a plate in contact with one end of the roll, said plate having a central opening therethrough, a hollow plug connected with said plate around .said opening and projecting into the hollow center of the roll, a head secured in the inner end portion of said plug, and a suspending rod in said center of the roll connected at its inner end portion with said head.

` S. rThe combination with a roll having a hollow center, of means Yfor handling and llifting said roll comprising a plate in contact with one end of the roll, said plate having a central opening therethrough, a hollow lplug connected with said plate around said opening and projecting into the hollow center of the roll, ahead secured in the inner end portion of said plug, said head having a screw-threaded opening therethrough, vand a suspending rod `having threaded engagement with said opening in the head.

9. rlhe combination with a roll having a hollow center, of means for handling and lifting said roll comprisingl a plate in contact with one end of the roll, said plate having a central opening therethrough, a hollow plug connected with said plate around said opening and projecting into the hollow center of the roll, a head secured in the plug, a suspending rod in said center of the roll having its inner end portion connected with said head and having its other end portion projecting beyond theother end of the roll, said head in the plug being located at a distance from the end of the roll that it is adjacentto to receive and house the projects ing portion of a suspending rod carried by another roll when such other roll is placed in end to end relation with the first-mentioned roll.

BERGER STOCKFLETH. FREDERICK W. BURGER. 

